NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5732, 27 November 1896, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND MINES IN LONDON.

[From Our Correspondent.! ♦LONDON, Oct. 8. " Lost, stolen, or strayed, a fine young Boom of the Mining Market variety. Should have a strong strain of the New Zealand section about it. Anyone finding and forwarding same without delay will be amply rewarded by the sorrowing company promoters, stock jobbers and underwriters of the City of London." The above' was precipitated into this office in the early hours of this morning, the absence of a cheque to cover "insertion till further notice " not being explained. Presumably the advertisers consider their note should come under the heading of "missing friends " insertions, relating to which New Zealand papers do not usually charge for, it appears. • THE "FINANCIAL TIMES " ON NEW ZEALAND MINING. The following passages are culled from a leader on New Zealand mines, which appeared in the Financial Times a few days ago. The article appearing in a paper not prone to boom things •.New Zealand can hardly fail to have good effect : — Throughout the recent depression of South African and Westralian mining shares New Zealanders generally have exhibited a marked steadiness. The explanation is simple. There has been little open account in these descriptions, and holders having bought with a fixed intention to keep the shares for ultimate higher prices, there have been no weak bulls nor nervous owners to, frighten into realising. New Zealanders, as a rule, have not yet experienced any considerable advance, and there is therefore the less reason for apprehending a fall. One or two exceptional instances in which there has been some speculative activity — notably Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand — only serve to prove the rule, but even here the relapse has not been severe. New Zealanders as a whole have lately been an inactive market, and therein has lain the secret of their stability. It would be wall for holders of shares, in the abstract, if markets were free from speculative excitement, for although they would have less chance of netting those quick profits which are chiefly the hope of dabblers in mines, on the other hand they would be spared the severe depreciation which so often results in a lively market from the " banging " tactics of operators and the mischievotis effect of mendacious cables and rumours. While, however, the business in New Zealand shares quietly pursues the even tenor of its way, interest in that sphere of mining enterprise is steadily growing, and in proportion as the Kaffir and Westralian markets are disappointing we may expect this expansion of interest to contintie. The natural advantages of the New Zealand goldfields in point of water, labour, timber and cheap transport have been very fully expatiated on of late, but there are some elements of advantage which, perhaps, have not been sufficiently considered. The reefs, though not distinguished for that nearly uniform distribution of gold which is the strongpointof the Main Eeef Series on the Witwatersrand, yet in places assume a richness far surpassing anything to be met with on the Rand, and thus there is always the chance of a big prize to go for. Of this feature the success of the Hauraki is a striking illustration. At the same time, unlike the dyke formations or deposits of West Australia, which are liable to come to an abrupt end, the New Zealand ore bodies are generally true fissure veins. They may be extremely variable in width, both horizontally and vertically, and their gold-bearing properties may equally fluctuate ; but so long as the reef continues — even though it get attenuated to a mere string — there is always the prospect of it becoming payable again, and even bountifully productive, as the result of further development. The holder of shares, though he may have to exercise prolonged patience, thus need not abandon nope, provided the company in which he is interested be a bond, fide working concern, possessed of sufficient funds for continued operations. * * * There can be little doubt that the mining speculator who has made a judicious selection of New Zealand shares, and who is content to patiently await results, rather than display a fevtrish anxiety for early profits, has reason for satisfaction, despite the present generally depressing tone of the mining market. He may have a long time to wait for a considerable enhancement of the money expended, but may be freu from much of the anxiety that is felt by those whose interests are in other markets where professional speculators are more active. THE AROHA GOLD-MINING CQJSrANT, The statutory meeting of the Aroha Gold Mines, Limited, occurred on Friday last, at Cannon Street Hotel, Sir W. Perceval being in the chair. He had, of course, not very much to say to the shareholders, but that which he had to tell was eminently satisfactory to those who had risked money in the venture. Sir Westby said that four months in the life of a company formed to work a property at the Antipodes did not allow time for very extensive operations ; nevertheless, the company's title to the property had been completed, and a large amount of development work done. The land acquired (290 acres) situate at To Aroha on the Hauraki Peninsula comprised forty to fifty claims formerly held by co-operative mininjr parties or small companies without adequate working capital. Consequently no developments in depth or of a permanent character were undertaken, and when difficulties were encountered the work was stopped. Notwithstanding, up to March 1895, when the Aroha Syndicate purchased the property 50,90-ioz of gold had been won from 49,602 tons of ore. The Aroha Syndicate spent considerable sums in ascertaining whether the auriferous stone in the surface workings went down in depth. The work commenced by the syndicate had been carried on by the company with very satisfactory results. Several adits at a much lower level than the old workings, and also winzes had been driven and sunk on the reef. This reef, which experts assert is from 4ft to 100 ft in thickness, runs for over two miles through the property, and has been proved in almost all the woi-kings to be gold-bearing. Hundreds of assays had been made which gave a value per ton of a few shillings up to £3, withoxit speaking of specimens frequently met with which assay from .£2O to .£IOO per ion. Putting specimens and rich chutes out of the calculation, it is proved beyond question that there is an enormous mass of low-grado ore, and directors had therefore to face the position of extracting the ore at the lowest possible cost and on a large scale. After careful consideration and expert advice the Board adopted a proposal made by Mr Daw, the company's mine superintendent, to put in a large main tunnel right in the outcrop of the reef, at the southern end of the property, a short distance above the battery site. This would enable the ore to be landed at the battery at a considerably reduced cost. The cost of pumping, hatiling and sinking, which under any other plan must be a heavy item of expenditure, would thus be minimised for many years to come, and instead of bringing the ore at great expense from the top of the hill, it could be run by trucks to the battery at a' trifling cost. THE TREATMENT OP THE ORE. With a view to the adoption of the system and plant best suited to the ore the Board ordered a sample of twenty tons to be sent to England for experimental treatment, and samples were being pent for the same purpose to Melbourne, San Francisco and New York. The small battery on the ground had been put into working order, and a small cyanide plant erected for experimental purposes only. When the results of these experiments was known, the Board would decide as, to the most suitable process and plant, and no effort would be spared to carry out the policy of handling the ore on a large scale Tit a minimum of cost. Thg company had the advantage of possessing"^ working capital cash in hand, of .£40,000 out of a total capital of ,£IOO,OOO. Sir Westby then

read a very favourable report by Mr E. J. Dunn, in which the following passages occurred: — "As regards management the placing of Gavin in charge of the mines has been a vaat improvement, and the property now is being energetically and honestly developed. The Premier section is receiving the most attention, and is certainly opening up in a manner that exceeds my anticipations. The work now- proceeding is proving that in this section of the mine large bodies of ore of low grade, but profitable to work, exist. As the work is carried northward from the several levels, so as to get below the Premier workings" and to the north of these workings, I quite expect the 'quality of the ore in the lode to improve. Besides the average assays, it is evident from occasional assays made, that streaks of rich ore occur. I believe cyanide will be applicable totheso ores, and especially to some of them such as those from the Colonist section, where I saw drab - looking spots in the quartz, which, on being magnified, resolved into the most finely-divided particles of gold I have seen, and this, of course, is the most suitable for cyanide treatment. My own feeling is that, with such splendid encouragements as the mine now gives for the money so far spent, very much more extensive development work is justified and should be carried on, and so far the Premier section has monopolised most of the expenditure. Not one-fourth of the length of the lode in your property is being tried, and I consider that a fourth of the sum set apart for development should be expended on the southern portion of the ground. The next that should be done is to send a first-class man to go thoroughly into the matter of planning how" these great lodes are to be worked and the ore conveyed to the mill in the most economical manner. This work requires to be attended to now so as to place the low level tunnels at the proper levels, &c, and it is quite independent of the actual plant which will be required, and which can only be decided upon later on. The general feeling is that Waiorongomai is one of the largest, if not the largest, thing in the Peninsula, and this is the view I formed of it at the beginning. Ido not however count on rich ore, though instances of this, nature will occur, but what you may expect is large bodies of payable ore and a lasting — I was nearly saving an everlasting — mine." A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the proceedings.